02 Dec 2021
The Ministry of Mining had undertaken the review of the mining policies and legislations including the development of new mining sector policies since 2009.
The review of the Mining Act 1992 was completed in 2016 and is still before the National Executive Council for its endorsement. The revised Mining Bill is one of the lengthiest consulted Bills in the country spanning over 12 years since 2009.
The government has recently made some changes to the Mining Act 1992. I will point out two of these changes which are now law in Papua New Guinea.
The Mining (amendment) Act 2020 stipulates that the state must maintain a repository of all mineral and geological data at the Mineral Resources Authority.
The holder of a tenement and/ or any other person in possession of mineral and geological data or information, inclusive of research activities, relating to the mineral and geology of the land in Papua New Guinea must submit all such data and information to the authority.
MRA is now in the process to establish a central monitoring hub for every operating mine in Papua New Guinea to transmit their live data on mineral extraction, production and sale in real time to the hub which will be administered and monitored by the MRA.
The Mining Ministry has also developed a range of policies covering offshore mining, mining project rehabilitation and mine closure, mining project involuntary resettlement, geothermal resources policy, sustainable mining development policy and the alluvial mining policy.
The alluvial mining policy dictates that alluvial mining is reserved specifically for natural Papua New Guinean citizens only. It is an activity that directly impacts the livelihood of our people and therefore the government is specifically reserving the alluvial mining business for its natural citizens as a reserved activity.
The Ministry of Mining is also developing a downstream mineral processing policy. It is an aspiration of the people of Papua New Guinea that one day our mineral resources will processed onshore for export
The Government is changing the way business was done in the past in PNG. We are calling upon the mining sector in particular to partner with us as we work through these developments and manage the changes that are taking place within the country.